Whiskey Tango Foxtrot
As in, I read a couple of articles about “journalism” (yes, with air quotes) this past weekend that were just, WTF?
The first was Nicholas Carr, arguing for Experiments in delinkification. I.e. don’t put links inline in your online stories/blog entries, put them at the end (like footnotes in a book).
- On the most basic level, this is idiotic because the web is about linkage. That’s its power. Read the same article in (for example) the print version Vanity Fair and do the lookups after reading the physical article. Not pretty.
- I respect Carr, and he got the idea from Steve Gillmor – I respect Steve and Dan (his brother) Gillmor about tech and journalism. NOTE: No link to Steve’s original column that I can see.
- I can see the argument for same: Takes (potentially) reader away from article. That’s the point of links. If I’m distracted by a shiny object (link), my bad. But why not offer same to me, and let me decide? Why not put a link to Steve’s article so I can decide that he’s a tool or that, while I respect him, Steve has left the reservation on this subject? Or that Carr has misrepresented Gillmor’s intent or whatever? That’s part of journalism that linkage makes easy/powerful (link to source – let reader decide if you’ve interpreted correctly etc.).
- Overall, I disagree with this online “linkless” writing, but that’s me. I can see the merits of the counter arguments; I just don’t buy into them.
The other article I read this weekend – on TechCrunch – was Sarah Lacy’s take on whether print journalism is dead or not. After talking to managers of a Southeast Asia print empire, Sarah says this corporation has the keys to keeping print media alive.
How?
They recruit the best – and have more applicants than positions. Kudos!
And then things got weird – both with the print (and TV) empire, and with Sarah, the so-called journalist.
The Jawa Pos will only hire someone if they are under 25 and you must retire when you hit 50—no matter what your seniority.
The company’s network of more than 150 publications and television stations is designed to avoid the exact problem that plagues old-school media: An overpaid preponderance of senior staff that doesn’t do much. [emphasis added]
Does experience and seniority have advantages in the work place? Of course. That’s why the Jawa Pos lets you work there until you are fifty.
I understand what the company – Jawa Pos – is trying to do (save money on salaries). Why would an American – a woman – buy into this? (Sure you’re OK until you’re 50, but if you’ve had a kid…).
And how about Sarah’s comment: Does experience and seniority have advantages in the work place? Of course. That’s why the Jawa Pos lets you work there until you are fifty.
1) They “let you work there” until you are fifty? Thanks!
2) At 50 years + one day, does my experience and seniority have advantages in the work place? According to this article, nope – and that’s a good thing! This’ll keep print alive!! (It’ll help. At 50, nuke that editor and replace with someone half-aged/half-priced.)
And – yep – the reason print is dying is because of “An overpaid preponderance of senior staff that doesn’t do much.”
Nothing to do with declining classified sales.
Nothing to do with younger people reading non-physical news (ah, the interTubes…..).
And yes, more so [NOT!] than any other industry, an “overpaid preponderance of senior staff that doesn’t do much.” Not true in any other industry: Sales, retail, marketing, Congress etc.
Those lazy blokes with ink-stained fingers…
Sarah Lacey’s article is – to me, a one-time journalist, an avid reader – disturbing.
The logic here, simply put, is that news is a young person’s business.
Really? Tell Studs Turkel, Bob Woodward, Roger Ebert and others.
You’re out.
Vote 4 Lee!
Hey, I don’t know what I’m running for, but with the backing of Bogies, how can I lose?
I saw this sign a week or two ago; finally grabbed my camera and fired off a few shots on the way to work this morning. It’s a restaurant near us in Mount Prospect, IL; I’ve never been, but I pass it every morning on the way to work.
Vote 4 Lee! Woo-hoo!
Update: “Vote 4 Lee” was for Lee DeWyze, who was on – and tonight won – the 2010 American Idol contest. DeWyze is from Mount Prospect (where I currently live); so – sadly (but understandably) – they are not voting for me. Was fun while it lasted…
Vote for Lee!
My Kind of Town, Chicago Is…
Went to Chicago today to, well, do what we wanted to do.
What we did:
- Trounced through Millennium Park (nothing’s blooming at this point beyond some tulips) Ah, the Bean is always good.
- Hit the Art Institute to, mainly, see the Matisse exhibition. Not a Matisse fan; unchanged after seeing the exhibition (but enjoyed same)
- Noodled around the Cultural Center – probably my favorite building in Chicago.
- Lunch at Harry Caray’s (never been…maybe for a beer, but not for food. I fergit). Chicken Marsala; nice…best Chicken Marsala I’ve had since Italy (circa 1979).
One odd note: The Daley Center Plaza fountain was dyed pink. Why? I guessed some sort of Breast Cancer promo. Turns out it was supposed to be dyed crimson, as in the color of the Chicago Black Hawks’ jersey (Black Hawks currently in playoffs). Doesn’t seem crimson/red to me. You be the judge….
mysqldump saved my life (data) tonight
OK, I had backups (in many formats – .txt .csv etc), but the mysql dump really worked best for this (undefined) task.
Just cut my data transfer time from (???) to a few minutes.
And it was a successful transfer.
Credit where credit is due…
ipower.com
Moving domains
I’ve done a fair amount of work in setting up domains for myself and friends, but I’ve little experience with moving domains.
I finally moved one of my domains (no link; work in progress [what’s with the 404 page??]), and – crap, 12 years since WWW – this is still not an easy process.
I moved to IPower.com, because I have had another friend’s site there for a few years without issues , and – overall – had what I wanted (no SSH! – Not big for this site, but….).
Again, painful process, but iPower made it much easier than other domain setups/transfers:
- Good online description of services; signup
- Post-siignup Email that outlined what one had to do, including name servers etc
- Control panel (web admin) that spells out POP server, SMTP server and so on. Awesome.
- I’ll spare you the grisly details, but what used to cost $220/year will be $48/year ($96/yr after first two years) for, essentially, way more functionality. Duh.
- NOTE: – Not an ad/endorsement for ipower.com; just the facts (good and bad). When I canceled from my old host, I said – honestly – I wanted a Linux solution that was affordable. The former host didn’t offer what I wanted at a competitive price.
Still – and I’m a web dork – not easy. How to set up mySql, does that come with PHPadmin and so on. I shudder to think what would happen if I moved a WordPress site to another host that runs WordPress (I dunno; might be seamless…or not). And does the average user even understand that you’ll nee PHPadmin (or SSH) if you run WordPress (etc)?
Physical fact: I hate moving (apartments etc.); across the street is just as much of a pain in the butt as across the state.
Virtual fact: Moving domains is now easier, but still not non-dork friendly. Getting better, but…
That’s my experience.
Ipower.com
Google…and Joyce
One of my favorite authors is James Joyce, and the last lines of Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man is one of my favorite quotations:
Welcome, O life! I go to encounter for the millionth time the reality of experience and to forge in the smithy of my soul the uncreated conscience of my race.
— James Joyce, Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man
This seems to jibe with Google Mission Statement – “…The name reflects the immense volume of information that exists, and the scope of Google’s mission: to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”
I didn’t see this before. Interesting. The “uncreated conscience of my race” sorta equals “The name reflects the immense volume of information that exists, and the scope of Google’s mission: to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”
I think Joyce would have loved Google and the intertubes…